- from Part 11

Lex sat in his penthouse, dressed in one of his many tuxedos, listening with pleasure as the sounds of the ball filtered up into his study. He smiled at Asabi as he entered the room with permission. "Well, have we charmed our worm?"

"Miss Lane is in the building."

His smile broadened as his plan began to fall into place. "Excellent. I think it's time I showed my face. After all, I am the host. It would be rude of me to spend all my time alone up here."

*.*.*.

Part Twelve

*.*.*.

Lois gripped the glass of champagne harder as she glanced around the ballroom, feeling constantly on edge as she gave way to her paranoia. She could feel the adrenaline pounding through her veins and her eyes were beginning to feel sore from the constant searching but she didn't dare let her guard down for a second. She was in Lex's headquarters, surrounded by his men who could very well be any one of the well-dressed people milling about and she was expecting Luthor to capture her again as soon as possible. Even worse was that she was here with Mitchell. She was bitterly regretting her choice in 'protector' already. Sure, Clark was the target of the people she was hiding from but he also was quite possibly the best source of protection a girl could have. The man in question returned to her side, sniffing and dabbing at his nose with a well-worn handkerchief. "They didn't know," he told her, "can you believe that? All I wanted to know was whether there was any chance the food contained traces of nuts or shellfish, and they told me they didn't know. Then they said that if I was allergic then they could find me some bread. Bread! Can you believe that? You know what happens if I so much as *touch* something with wheat in it."

Lois felt the annoyed sigh slip from her lips before she could stop it and gave Mitchell a small but wicked grin. "Remind me one day to introduce you to one of my sources, Bobby. I think you two would get on like a house on fire."

Mitchell's face lit up, completely missing her sarcasm. "Really? You want to introduce me to your friends? I've always got the impression that you were a little embarrassed by me. I understand that, I can be a little trying what with all my allergies and stuff, but you're not exactly low-maintenance yourself you know."

"What's *that* supposed to mean?" Lois snapped at him, finding it hard to maintain friendly banter with her current stress levels.

He smirked at her, enjoying her reaction. "Guess."

Lois stalked away on instinct before she could think any better of it. It was strange, she knew that Mitchell was only teasing her but it got to her much more than it would have done if it had been Clark teasing her. She pinched herself in penance for her wandering thoughts. She had to stop thinking about Clark; she had to concentrate on what she was here to do. What was she here to do? Oh, right, prove to Luthor that she wasn't scared of him. Yeah, that was going to work, she was more jumpy than an extremely nervous rabbit on caffeine. She turned to speak to Mitchell again to apologise for her behaviour. She was on edge and obviously not very good company, but he had vanished through the crowds and she was now alone. Lois suddenly felt even more panicked and insecure. She tried desperately to spot Perry, Jimmy or even Cat through the crowd but she couldn't see anyone she knew at all.

"Having a nice time, are we?" a sinister voice breathed into her ear.

She could feel his body invading her space. He wasn't actually touching her but she could feel him tainting her with his presence, as if his aura was leaching into hers. "It's a beautiful party, Lex. I'm sure you didn't want me to miss it."

He chuckled at her obstinacy. "You really are quite astute, Miss Lane. I do not think I need to fear that I will ever overestimate you. I wonder, though, if you will make the grave mistake of *under*estimating me?"

She turned to look him straight in the eye. She supposed he was quite handsome, in a slimy sort of way. Nothing to Clark of course. "Let's stop playing games here. You wanted me to come, I came. What happens now?"

Lex raised an eyebrow and took a sip from his glass of champagne as he smiled to himself. "Nothing. You are my guest, I simply came to check that you were enjoying yourself."

"Uh-huh. So your scientist goons aren't going to suddenly grab me and lock me up in a lab as bait for Cl... for some reason." Lois steadily backtracked on her words. No one was really paying that much attention to them, well, no more than any other woman he had spoken to so far that night. Still, she didn't want to mention Clark's name, even though his name hadn't come out yet as that of the flying man.

"No," Lex assured her.

"Right."

As Lois started to back away, his hand snaked out to run his fingers through her hair. "You know, I was disappointed when you left so abruptly. I was looking forward to spending some quality time with you myself. You know, after the alien was done with you."

There was no mistaking his meaning, and Lois felt physically sick at the thought of his insinuation. She pulled away, noticing that as she did so Lex had pulled out a strand of her carefully styled hair. She self-consciously tucked it back behind her ear and glanced towards him. She wanted to slap him for touching her, that'd take care of the smug look on his face. Then his bodyguards would come and arrest her and they'd probably take her back to Bureau 39, then maybe Lex would...

She leant closer to him, whispering in his ear as he had done to her. "I've done some stupid, deplorable and degrading things during my life, but I would never, *ever*, lower myself enough to share a bed with you, Mr. Luthor."

He ignored her comment and watched her walk away before calling after her, "You're investigating the Messenger explosion, aren't you Miss Lane?"

Lois turned again, her curiosity piqued despite herself. "You've been spying on me?"

"Not really. You're pretty but you're not important to me. I just thought that before you stormed out of the building, I'd advise you to stay. I think my announcement will interest you." He turned and left her without a second glance in her direction.

*.*.*.

Lois leant heavily on Mitchell's arm as they left the ball early, her exhaustion almost entirely mental. He was tormenting her. Lex had practically admitted that he had been behind the explosion of the Messenger, obviously he wanted to replace it with his own Space Station Luthor. Everyone had applauded his announcement; his eyes had sought out hers during the ovation and had sparkled at the horror he had seen in them. That was enough as far as she was concerned to confirm her suspicions. The worst thing was that he had obviously wanted her to know. Lex didn't seem to be at all worried that Lois might prove him guilty of his crimes, in fact he seemed to be excited at the knowledge that someone was on to him. Was it all just one big game to him?

Mitchell paused as a taxi pulled up to take them home. He turned to Lois, apprehension in his eyes. "Look, Lois, we've been on a couple of dates now, but," he bit his lip as he struggled to find the right words, "I don't think this is going to work out."

"What?" Lois narrowed her eyes as she focused on her companion. "Well, no, of course it isn't. We're not at all compatible. Truth be told, I have feelings for someone else. He just couldn't make it tonight and I didn't want to come alone. I'm sorry if it looked like I was leading you on, that wasn't my intention."

"Oh." Mitchell's face turned into a grin. "Somehow I couldn't really see me breaking your heart. I hope it works out between you and this guy."

She sighed in frustration, "Honestly, I don't see how it can, but you can't pick and choose who you fall in love with."

"Love, wow! Lois Lane in love. That's something I never expected." He opened the taxi door for her and gestured for her to get in. "Goodnight Lois."

Lois sat down on the cold leather seat, thinking. She'd never meant to say love, was it love what she had with Clark? If it wasn't, she supposed it wasn't far off but he still wasn't here and she still didn't feel safe on her own. She looked up at Mitchell, hoping she wasn't about to sound completely pathetic. "Listen, one of my stories has turned kind of intense. I really don't want to be alone. I mean I want to be around people that I know and trust. My sister's at home so I'll be fine once I get there, but I was wondering if wouldn't you mind sharing the taxi back to my place? I'll pay, I know it's out of your way I just--"

"Hey, it's no problem. Gee, Lois, you seem really worried. No, I'll share the cab with you, I mean we're still friends right?" Lois scooted over and Mitchell got in beside her, slamming the door behind them and the driver drove off towards Lois' apartment, following her directions. Neither one of them looked up into the sky but they wouldn't have seen anything if they had. No, Clark was too high up for them to see but with his vision he had seen the events clearly enough. He had watched Lois, looking as stunning as ever, leave a party thrown by Lex Luthor on the arm of another man. He hadn't believed pain could be this intense. Nothing Bureau 39 had ever done to him had hurt this much. After everything he had shared with her... Had she been in on it all along? They'd placed her into his life as a plant, this was just another bizarre experiment they wanted to put him through. He flew up a little higher, intending to return to the Kents to pour his heart out to them. No, he stopped in mid flight. For all he knew, they were part of it too. Well, they couldn't outsmart him. He was free now; no one knew where he was. He'd show them. Clark dropped in altitude as he returned to LexCorp and focused through the walls of Lex's penthouse until he focused in on the man in question. He was lying beside a fire, smiling intensely and puffing on a cigar. He looked like he was in complete control, absolutely unstoppable. Clark gritted his teeth. He'd see about that. He'd topple Luthor from his throne, then he would hurt Lois the way...

Lois. How had he got it so wrong? He really thought that she liked him, thought that she was honest. He'd read her work for years in the papers they'd given him. He'd had no idea that he'd ever meet her, and that she'd take his breath away when he did, but he would never have believed that she'd be involved in something as wrong as Bureau 39. She'd always seemed to search out the truth and stand up for the underdog. So why had she done that to him?

*.*.*.

After returning home Lois had been interrogated by Lucy about Mitchell. Feeling stifled, Lois had told her that she didn't have the time for their conversation; that she'd only come home to get changed so she could go and investigate EPRAD. It hadn't been her original plan and Dr. Baines had been more than happy to chuck her out as soon as she was discovered. Still, she'd seen the state of the Messenger. It really was important for her to discover who was behind it, or more to the point, that she nailed Luthor. He was the only link that she had discovered. Getting rid of him would save the Messenger and Prometheus but he was only a part of Clark's troubles.

The next day at work had been entirely spent going through Platt's reports and hoping for something more understandable from STAR Labs. She hadn't wanted to get them involved but there was no way she was ever going to be able to understand all that scientific mumbo-jumbo. There were people there who would be able to break it down into layman's terms, but she hadn't wanted to risk going herself, so instead she had settled for sending Jimmy, hoping that Wicks and her associates would know that he had nothing to do with Clark and leave him alone.

*.*.*.

"...So you see, this purple 'goo' is actually--"

Donna almost leapt for joy at the sound of knocking on the door, interrupting her meeting with Klein. She was beginning to wonder whether something had gone wrong with the machine when she had used it to wipe his memory of Bureau 39, before remembering that Klein was just that irritating and the chances were that she hadn't given him brain damage. "Come in."

The important-looking man in the business suit looked at Klein with an almost-glare, before turning his full attention to Donna. "Dr. Donna Wicks?"

"Yes. Who are you?"

"George Thompson, from Washington. Can I have a few moments with you in private, Dr. Wicks?"

"Sure."

Donna ushered Klein towards the door as the doctor tried to focus on Thompson, some vague memory trying to push its way into his conscious thought. "George Thompson? Now, why is that name familiar?"

"Goodbye, Dr. Klein!" Donna called as she pushed him firmly through the doorway and bolted the door behind him, not wanting to tempt fate and allow any possible re-entry for the time being.

Thompson glared at her as she moved across the room to her desk. "He isn't supposed to remember *anything*. That includes names."

Donna sat down in her seat and indicated for her visitor to do the same at the other end of the desk. "I know. I noticed the machine wasn't working properly when I last used it and I filed a report."

"Let me guess, you forgot to label it as 'top priority'." Thompson banged his briefcase down on her desk in frustration, causing her to jump. "If I was a suspicious man, I might wonder if you had sabotaged it. Clark has escaped, Trask's disappeared, the whole Bureau 39 operation is falling apart. You would undoubtedly be worried that you would be next in line to have your memory erased."

Donna's face tightened at the accusation and she kept her voice firm and barely civil. "I'm a professional, Mr. Thompson. I wouldn't sabotage my own work."

"So I assumed." Thompson didn't seem convinced of her innocence. "The reason I'm here, however, is not to question anyone's involvement in recent events. Our screening process is faultless. We know no one from STAR Labs is behind all this."

"Faultless? How do you explain Trask? The man was insane. When I took over I read all the documents surrounding Clark's discovery, he tried to kill the child! I had to maintain the security around him to make sure Trask was allowed nowhere near the alien."

Thompson sighed almost sadly. "Trask was a founding member, there was no way we could easily have removed him from the operation. It was always hoped that he would retire from Bureau 39--"

"You must have known that would never happen."

"No. But his body was found in Hobbs River last night. Murdered." Donna grimaced at her mental image. She knew it had happened, of course, but being told about the proof of it still sent shivers down her spine, painfully reminding her of what Luthor was capable of doing. She was worried about what he was currently planning, especially considering that she hadn't heard from him following Clark's second escape. "You don't seem shocked. Did you know about it?"

"I knew about it as soon as I got a phone call from Luthor telling me that 'we' were now in control of Bureau 39. You know he did it, right?"

The man's expression didn't change. "We are looking into it and I'll make a note of your suspicions. In fact, we are not entirely sure how Luthor managed to persuade everyone to let him have so much control of the operation. As it is, I am going to relieve him of all management duties once I leave here. You are to be in charge of shutting Bureau 39 down."

Donna's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion at his last sentence. "Shutting it down? I don't understand, there *is* intelligent life in space. We have reams of data concerning Kryptonian biology on Earth, as well as their advanced technological knowledge taken from the construction of Clark's ship. It can help us achieve manned space travel out of our solar system in far less time than it would from experimentation and give us a good idea of what to expect from any other aliens we may encounter. Surely even if we don't recapture Clark we should continue with our research."

"If STAR Labs wishes to continue the research, the government would be very interested in the findings, I'm sure, but our funding has been withdrawn following the recent events. The government is worried about the damage Clark may do if provoked. So far he has done nothing but help people in situations where no human could provide help. If he wishes to continue doing so, the government would be quite happy to let him. However, you must be aware of the potential damage he could cause if he turned against us. For the time being, it would be prudent to leave him alone and forget about the whole sorry business."

Thompson stood up and moved to the door. Donna looked up at him with something akin to sorrow in her eyes. "You know, don't you, that Luthor killed Trask? That's why you came here first. You're not sure that Luthor'll let you take control of Bureau 39 back."

He watched her for a second, his eyes betraying nothing as he listened to her words. "Goodbye, Dr. Wicks." He opened the door to leave, and was shocked to see a young man about come barging into her office with an extremely determined look on his face.

"I want to make a deal," he told her, forcefully, ignoring Thompson as he pushed his way past and into her office.

Donna exchanged looks with Thompson. "Maybe you'd like to stay," she offered him, her voice calm considering the intense emotion being emitted from the newcomer. "Mr. Thompson, this is Clark. Clark, this is George Thompson, from Washington."

Clark gaped at the man, a hundred worries going through his head as Thompson shut the door, remaining on the inside with them. "My meeting can wait a little longer," he agreed.

Donna cleared her throat to get Clark's attention back. "So, what's the deal then, Clark? It must be important for you to want to come back here. I would have thought you'd be giving the place a wide berth."

Clark swallowed as he tried to regain his composure in front of the people responsible for keeping him locked up in a laboratory for almost his entire life, before making his well-rehearsed pitch to the scientist.

*.*.*.

Lex let out a primal scream and broke the screen surrounding his model of Space Station Luthor. Things were not going to plan. Firstly he'd been relieved of his duties towards Bureau 39 and was told that it was going to be shut down. Then he had become concerned about Toni Baines' attitude towards the tenacious Lois. There was something about the reporter, something that had obviously drawn the alien to her. It was only a shame he'd got there first, really. If he'd had time to woo Lois, to show her his most personal side, he would have been very happy to have her at his side as a willing trophy. He was still determined to have her however, which meant keeping Toni from doing something silly like killing the reporter just because she was working on the Messenger story. Lastly, the final nail in the coffin was that the decision had been made to continue with the Messenger launch instead of using his space station. Well, he'd certainly see about that!

*.*.*.

Lois struggled against her bonds as she watched Dr. Baines exit the EPRAD building, but they were too tight and there was no way she was going to free herself. She was going to die. Her gaze fell on Jimmy, who was lying unconscious on the ground. No one had bothered to tie him up, not that it wouldn't have mattered if they had, it was too late now for anyone to untie her and get her out of this mess. The two liquids had started to trickle down a drain, meaning they had only a few seconds left to evacuate the building. She couldn't remember what the chemicals were called and at this point she didn't much care. Some badly named and unmemorable chemical compounds were about to end her life, that was big enough for her. Yesterday she'd felt elated, a spanner had been thrown in Luthor's plans when they decided to go ahead with the Messenger and she'd written up her story on the original's sabotage. Then Perry had decided he wanted more evidence than Platt's report, especially following the man's supposed suicide. Now Lois was about to die at the hands of a woman she assumed was working under Luthor, which meant he'd won. Lois blinked back tears, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of visually giving into despair. At least Clark was free from him. She sighed as the image of the man she loved appeared before her. "Clark," she sighed, as she closed her eyes and waited for the end.

She felt air rushing past her body a split second before she heard the explosion and felt the heat from the fire. She leant back to accept death and embrace it, before she felt something yank on her arm and she landed on some asphalt. Wet asphalt. Brilliant, she'd died and gone to hell, because if there was one thing Lois Lane knew about going to heaven, it did not involve falling onto wet asphalt. She opened her eyes and glared at the ground and the dirt covering her outfit. She turned her head to pick out the body of Jimmy lying beside her in shadow as he woke up and started to push himself up onto his hands and knees. "Lois?" he groaned, "what happened?"

Lois snapped her head to the other side but all she caught was a glimpse of the outline of a man's body before it flew off wordlessly into the sky.

Jimmy gasped as he watched him fly away. "Were we just rescued by the flying man? This story gets bigger and bigger!"

She shook her head as a feeling of disappointment and abandonment shot through her. "He just flew off. Why?"

"What were you expecting?" Jimmy got to his feet and checked the camera that was slung around his neck, grinning at finding it intact, "him to give you a one-on-one interview? No one's even seen his face, let alone spoken to him. Did they knock you out too? I want to know if they took out the film but I daren't open it until I get into a dark room to check. We don't want to lose those pictures."

Lois was still watching the area where she'd last seen Clark, distracted and only half listening to what Jimmy was saying. "No, pictures. Import, must-- Hey, look at that!" Lois caught something in her peripheral vision and pointed to the sky where Baines' helicopter had just exploded into flames. Obviously Luthor didn't want her hanging around any longer. A shudder went through her body as she contemplated what could still, very possibly, be her fate at his hands.

"Guess the flying man didn't want to save them, whoever they were. Do you reckon he saw them attack us and decided they weren't worth saving or do you think he's just vanished or something?"

Lois gave him a look. "Vanished? What do you think the guy is, a ghost?"

He shrugged, ignoring her sarcasm. "No one knows what he is. He can fly, for a start, so anything else could be possible. It's odd. He was here to save us, so why didn't he save them?"

"I don't know. Maybe he can move really fast and was too far away by the time the bomb went off for him to know."

"Could be. Guess we'll never know."

Suddenly a thought came to Lois and she grabbed Jimmy's arm, grinning widely as she pulled him in the direction of her jeep. "Come on, we must have more than enough evidence for Perry now, let's get back to the Planet and start writing. With a bit of luck it will make the morning edition."

Jimmy jogged along behind her, glancing down at his wet and muddy clothes with a grimace. "Can't I get changed first? I don't want to risk bumping into Elle from research like this because she is really cute and if I'm lucky I think might get her to go out with me."

"Jimmy, it's the middle of the night. It'll just be you, me, Perry and a couple of security guards," she swung round to look at him as they reached her car, "besides, Elle's dating Joe from sports. Now shut up, don't even *start* moping, and get in the car. I'm gonna need those photos."

Jimmy watched as Lois jumped into the jeep and started the engine, shaking his head in heartbroken despair. "Heartless. She's just heartless."

To Be Continued...